How to Sell and Advertise on Etsy

Learn how to advertise your shop on Etsy, and start running your online dropshipping business with Oberlo, today! It’s free!

How to Advertise on Etsy: Etsy Marketing Guide For Beginners

Advertising on Etsy is made easy through the site’s Promoted Listings tool. Etsy advertising operates on a bidding system similar to the way many other marketing channels like Facebook do. In this case, sellers are competing for space on Etsy search results, with available placements both at the top and the middle of the list where higher budgets result in higher rankings in the search menu. As the platform has grown, so have the possibilities for advertising on Etsy. Now, there are more customizable features available for getting clicks, views, and conversions for your business. The Promoted Listings can then be divided into two subcategories: brand advertising and direct-response advertising. Getting a feel for these two options is an important component to understanding how to advertise on Etsy.

Brand advertising is tailored towards those looking to promote their store’s brand or persona in a more general sense. That’s because this option is geared more towards generally getting your shop’s name out there. It is also good for anyone looking to publicize a new line or collection rather than specific items in their shop. This means of advertising on Etsy is done by boosting visibility in search results. As it is always good to keep an eye on the bigger picture, brand advertising allows you to take a long term approach in growing your shop as a platform and building a genuine following of people interested in what you are selling. You can bulk promote every listing in the line and cast a wide net by turning on auto-bidding, which allows you to promote multiple products at once and stretch your budget to gain the most possible impressions. Note that auto-bidding optimizes for clicks, so be sure to keep an eye on whether some items in the collection seem to be getting more traffic, and note that you can always use manual bidding for your ad instead.

Direct-response, the second most common option for advertising on Etsy, is a bit more focused, making it ideal if you’re looking to generate more immediate sales. This form of advertising on Etsy is oriented more around calls to action, with an emphasis on getting users to click your ad and buy the specific products you are selling. This option allows you to allocate your budget to pushing select items rather than groupings of them. We recommend using it if you want to sell items related to specific holidays or other events. If you sell hair accessories at your shop, for instance, and you have a red and green velvet headband in your latest collection, you might want to promote this specific item during Christmas time through direct-response advertising. Do this by pausing your other promoted ads and then allocating your budget to this item with the auto-bidding function. Of course, you can also do this if you know you have a new product in your store that is trending, or even if you are simply looking to clear your inventory. Direct-response ads are versatile and great for ecommerce shops at all stages. Now that you have a good overview of how to advertise on Etsy, let’s review how to sell on Etsy.

How to Sell on Etsy

Etsy is an online platform geared toward peer-to-peer ecommerce. Items on Etsy are often vintage, handmade, or unique/niche in some way. It is user-friendly and great for facilitating direct interactions between merchants and customers. When it comes to figuring out how to sell on Etsy, start by creating your account. Do so by selecting ‘Register’ at the top right corner of the screen, and then follow the prompts for entering your basic profile information. Next, navigate to the ‘Sell on Etsy’ button, which is conveniently located to the left of the ‘Register’ button. From the dropdown menu, select ‘Open a Shop’ and fill in your shop’s name as well as preferred currency, language, country, and payment options. Now, you’re ready to post your first listing! That said, you’ll want to consider your shipping procedures before the orders come in. We also recommend taking some time to fill in the details like the ‘About’ section and upload a profile photo to give your shop some more credibility as you begin to sell on Etsy. Once you’ve got all the basics down, it’s time to optimize within the Etsy search engine. One of the benefits of choosing to sell on Etsy over other platforms like it is that you are permitted to offer promotions, coupons, and discounts to customers as well as custom orders.

Especially as your business grows, it’s a great idea to use your Etsy shop in conjunction with one on Shopify to make the most of both platforms. Once this happens and you have a solid following on Etsy, we suggest utilizing this platform more as a marketing channel to direct your customers to your Shopify store. This is an especially solid strategy if you are making full use of the Etsy Promoted Post along with the search optimization tools and have found that typical Etsy shoppers are attracted to your brand, which will be especially likely if you sell jewelry, sunglasses, unique clothing, or decor. Draw people to your Shopify store by posting just some of your products on Etsy in order to leave them wanting more. Shopify also has plenty of third party apps that allow you to sync inventories between both platforms. Some of the top-ranked options include Importify, EasyImport, and ShippingEasy.

Note that like many online store platforms, Etsy does have seller fees, and you don’t have as much freedom over your website’s structure and appearance as you would with Shopify, so it is ideal for smaller-scale businesses and new ones or as a means of driving traffic back to your main website.

Where to Find Products

Armed with the knowledge of how to sell on Etsy, you may be wondering just where to find items to stock your business. While Etsy is often associated with small-scale artisans looking to sell handcrafted arts and crafts, it is not limited to these. If you have the right products to fit with the culture of Etsy, as an ecommerce entrepreneur, you can still have success in using this site to sell products. Furthermore, with dropshipping, you have access to huge marketplaces of suppliers and third party manufacturers so you can easily select items and import them to your Shopify store, and also sell them on Etsy. Then, when you make a sale, the suppliers will mail the products directly to your customers.

We suggest opting for dropshipped products that fit in line with the culture of Etsy, in order to make the most out of the platform and appeal to its users. Luckily, that will not limit you too much as many suppliers offer plenty of niche items, apparel, quirky or unique pieces, and jewelry, etc. Note that you are, of course, still responsible for the buyer’s experience and ensuring order fulfillment and inventory management. That is where apps like Oberlo come in to make your dropshipping process easier and more streamlined so you can focus on other aspects of growing your business. Oberlo automates much of the dropshipping process for you. With the app, you can import products to your shop with ease and your orders are fulfilled automatically. It will also monitor details like pricing and inventory changes so you don’t have to worry when fluctuations occur.

Oberlo is a dropshipping tool. Dropshipping is a low-risk business model that allows you to sell products without bulk ordering. Using the Oberlo app, suppliers will manufacturer, package and ship out products to your customers for you. You can sort items through order volume to see popular items that have proven to sell well. You’re free to test different products to find the best impulse buy products to sell on your store without having to order large quantities in advance.

What makes Oberlo great? Oberlo automates countless aspects of running an online store. You can import product images and copy in one click. You can also do one-click order processing saving you time – an entrepreneur’s most valued resource. You can choose from millions of great products from a variety of niches. You can build a low-maintenance business that allows you more time to work on marketing and customer support so you can scale your store. Pricing can be easily automated and updated with a click of a button. You can track your customers’ orders to answer customer inquiries and ensure deliveries are made promptly. Sorting through the best and fastest delivery methods is easy too!

How does it work?

Oberlo dropshipping is one the easiest ways to start an ecommerce business. It doesn’t require much capital investment. You can even run a profitable business from your couch.

Build an Ecommerce Store

Use this checklist to launch your store with Shopify. No coding required!

Fill Your Store with Products

Browse over 20M products and import them to your store in just a few clicks.

Suppliers Ship Your Orders

After you make a sale, send the orders to your suppliers, so they ship them directly to your customer.

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